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Web 2.0 Technology

What makes Learning Analytics a "Web 2.0" technology?
According to PCmag.com's glossary of terms, Web. 2.0 is a term that refers to two technological shifts, "'user-generated content,' which relates more to individuals…and equally significant, but more related to business, is 'cloud computing." Therefore, a Web 2.0 technology is one that uses the internet to store information (instead of a specific software installed on a specific computer, ) and one that allows users to generate content (like comments or pages) and add that content to the website.

User Generated Content
For a school or institution to use Learning Analytics, students must have access to some sort of online learning platform. Online, students can participate in discussions, create wikis, and take quizzes. The instructor or program may provide the learning resources, but students can include comments and discussions or comment on those made by others. The analytics program can then take the content generated by users and use it to determine their needs and preferences.

Cloud Computing
Learning Analytics - and Big Data in general - rely on cloud computing to work. To understand more about cloud computing in general, the following YouTube video provides a quick explanation.

Students' online learning environments are stored on the cloud, so they can access their coursework from anywhere with internet access. For example, a student can log onto BlackBoard from any internet-enabled computer, tablet, or smart phone. All of the data stored on the cloud is used to analyze student data; if it were stored on a single computer, students would need to work from that same computer each time for the program to work.